The consensus around the question of how we know things, along with other aspects of the Enlightenment, now laid the foundation for moving to the next stage of history, which some call modernity. Many historians date the dawn of modernity to, or around, the year 1830.

Paul Johnson has written a book called "The Birth of the Modern, World Society, 1815-1830." In explaining the title he states that "I present [these years] as those during which the matrix of the modern world was largely formed." Two other historians, speaking of this time period in "The Age of Federalism," noted that "the principle components for a structure of norms and social values most appropriate to the working of a capitalist, democratic, equalitarian culture were fully in place by about 1830, though not very much before then, and that 'Democracy in America' is the first picture of modernity we have. Probably no subsequent rearrangements of values or transformations in modes of thought and feeling could compare in magnitude to those that occurred in the 15 years or so prior to 1830."

Another historian observed that "Even if we concede that every historical moment is in some sense a moment of transition, there are ample grounds from describing the half-decade from 1828-1833 — even more specifically the period immediately surrounding Tocqueville's brief stay in 1831 — as a turning point in American history."

It is only after this birth of modernity in the 1830s that the intellectual gatekeepers of our times turn with ruthless diligence to creating a new coherent explanation of existence based solely on a materialistic foundation.

Next: Darwin and Marx

Joseph A. Cannon is editor of the Deseret News.